1. Field of the Presently Disclosed and/or Claimed Inventive Concepts
The inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein relate to a deck block system, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a deck block provided with a liquid drainage system.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
The construction of suspended flooring and/or roofing systems is well known in the art. Suspended flooring and/or roofing systems are typically constructed from a plurality of joists, struts, trusses, beams, or combinations thereof attached to the walls of a structure. Once the supporting frame is in place, a subfloor is typically installed on top of the floor frame. Common types of subflooring include steel members which are welded together, plywood sheets, composite decking, or combinations thereof. The final floor includes a layer of concrete that is poured over the subflooring. Additionally, certain types support framing requires the addition of insulation between the beams and joists of the support framing for noise attenuation and climate control within the structure.
To overcome some of the limitations of common construction methods for building suspended flooring and/or roofing systems, insulated block systems have been utilized to form insulated decking for supporting concrete flooring or roofing. In these systems, each of the blocks typically includes one or more projections and grooves for interlocking the blocks together to form the insulated decking. While the projection and groove combination adequately secures one block to another, such block systems suffer from the drawback of unwanted buildup and/or trapping of condensate or other liquids within various portions of the insulated blocks when the blocks are joined together to form the insulated deck. Fluid trapped within the insulated deck can be deleterious to the performance and safety of the insulated deck and/or the concrete poured over the insulated deck.
In addition, a typical insulated block deck is formed from a plurality of courses of interlocked blocks disposed adjacently to one another to cover the supporting frame. To provide additional structural support, the insulated deck may include support members such as T-shaped or I-beam support members disposed between each of the courses of interlocked blocks. Unfortunately, the fabrication and use of these T-shaped or I-beam support members can be costly.
To this end, a need exists for a deck block for use in constructing concrete flooring and roofing that overcomes the problems experienced with use of the prior art systems. It is to such a deck block that the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein are directed.